New Year's Eve - Poem by Henry Van Dyke

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I

The other night I had a dream, most clear And comforting, completeIn every line, a crystal sphere,And full of intimate and secret cheer. Therefore I will repeatThat vision, dearest heart, to you,As of a thing not feigned, but very true,Yes, true as ever in my life befell;And you, perhaps, can tellWhether my dream was really sad or sweet.

II

The shadows flecked the elm-embowered street I knew so well, long, long ago;And on the pillared porch where Marguerite Had sat with me, the moonlight lay like snow. But she, my comrade and my friend of youth, Most gaily wise,Most innocently loved, --She of the blue-grey eyesThat ever smiled and ever spoke the truth, --From that familiar dwelling, where she moved Like mirth incarnate in the years before,Had gone into the hidden house of Death.I thought the garden woreWhite mourning for her blessed innocence, And the syringa's breathCame from the corner by the fence,Where she had made her rustic seat,With fragrance passionate, intense,As if it breathed a sigh for Marguerite.My heart was heavy with a senseOf something good forever gone. I sought Vainly for some consoling thought,Some comfortable word that I could sayTo the sad father, whom I visited againFor the first time since she had gone away.The bell rang shrill and lonely, -- thenThe door was opened, and I sent my nameTo him, -- but ah! 't was Marguerite who came!

There in the dear old dusky room she stood Beneath the lamp, just as she used to stand,In tender mocking mood."You did not ask for me," she said,"And so I will not let you take my hand; "But I must hear what secret talk you planned "With father. Come, my friend, be good, "And tell me your affairs of state:"Why you have stayed away and made me wait "So long. Sit down beside me here, --"And, do you know, it seemed a year"Since we have talked together, -- why so late?"

Amazed, incredulous, confused with joyI hardly dared to show,And stammering like a boy,I took the place she showed me at her side; And then the talk flowed on with brimming tide Through the still night,While she with influence lightControlled it, as the moon the flood.She knew where I had been, what I had done, What work was planned, and what begun;My troubles, failures, fears she understood, And touched them with a heart so kind,That every care was melted from my mind,And every hope grew bright,And life seemed moving on to happy ends. (Ah, what self-beggared fool was he That said a woman cannot be The very best of friends?)Then there were memories of old times, Recalled with many a gentle jest;And at the last she brought the book of rhymes We made together, trying to translateThe Songs of Heine (hers were always best). "Now come," she said, "To-night we will collaborate "Again; I'll put you to the test. "Here's one I never found the way to do, --"The simplest are the hardest ones, you know, -- "I give this song to you." And then she read:Mein kind, wir waren Kinder,Zei Kinder, jung und froh.

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But all the while a silent question stirred Within me, though I dared not speak the word: "Is it herself, and is she truly here,"And was I dreaming when I heard"That she was dead last year?"Or was it true, and is she but a shade"Who brings a fleeting joy to eye and ear, "Cold though so kind, and will she gently fade "When her sweet ghostly part is played"And the light-curtain falls at dawn of day?"

But while my heart was troubled by this fear So deeply that I could not speak it out,Lest all my happiness should disappear,I thought me of a cunning wayTo hide the question and dissolve the doubt. "Will you not give me now your hand,"Dear Marguerite," I asked, "to touch and hold, "That by this token I may understand"You are the same true friend you were of old?" She answered with a smile so bright and calm It seemed as if I saw new stars ariseIn the deep heaven of her eyes;And smiling so, she laid her palmIn mine. Dear God, it was not coldBut warm with vital heat!"You live!" I cried, "you live, dear Marguerite!" Then I awoke; but strangely comforted, Although I knew again that she was dead.

III

Yes, there's the dream! And was it sweet or sad?Dear mistress of my waking and my sleep, Present reward of all my heart's desire, Watching with me beside the winter fire, Interpret now this vision that I had.But while you read the meaning, let me keep The touch of you: for the Old Year with storm Is passing through the midnight, and doth shake The corners of the house, -- man oh! my heart would breakUnless both dreaming and awakeMy hand could feel your hand was warm, warm, warm!